When Friendship Dies, Where Will You Go?
by Naurgurl
Summary: What happens when two months after the Second Wizarding War, Hermione Granger leaves England behind because of Ron? Where will she go and will romance blossom there? Can she find happiness? Short-ish story with a GxH shipping. I do not own anything Harry Potter. Naurgurl
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: What Must Be Done

I sighed and tugged my hair into a bun as I sat down. Today, I packed up everything I owned, without using my magic. Packing, organizing, and cleaning always calmed me down and gave me time to think. I couldn't remember when things had gone so wrong, but it was now a complete mess and I needed to get out. I dropped a note on the kitchen counter. Two simple words with so much force: "We're over". I grabbed my suitcase, shrunk my boxes of belongings, and disapparated to the nearest airport. I walked into the nearest terminal, gave the attendant my boarding passes and went through security. As I stood waiting in line, I thought back to the first month after the Second Wizarding War;That was when this whole catastrophe started.

**Ron and I had started living together after the war. It helped with the nightmares. We weren't engaged or anything, just a couple. Ron came through the front door shedding his cloak and throwing his briefcase as if they were on fire. "'Mione! I'm here! Ugh, bloody hell, WHAT IS THAT SMELL?" Ron ran through the door to the kitchen and saw me sitting in a chair asleep as the meal I had been cooking- fish and chips- burned to a crisp.**

** "HERMIONE, WHAT IN BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Ron screamed at my face, scaring me awake and making me whip out my wand. This was probably the worst thing I could have done; He grabbed my wrist and yanked me towards him. I gasped in pain but kept my mouth shut.**

** "I-I'm sorry Ron. I was working on my healer report and I must have dozed off. Please let go of me Ronald, you're hurting me.." I looked him in the eye and he turned a darker shade of red. He pushed me away and walked out the back door. I collapsed. I couldn't do this anymore. Since the war, Ron was more brutish, more violent. I managed to send Ginny and Harry both patronuses, and they came as soon as they could. I spend the next month with them. Ron never seemed to care; Ginny hexed him when he brought three other women home in one week. That was the final straw. The next day, I went back to the cottage and started packing.**

"Miss, yes you miss. Come on through or you'll miss your flight," A smiling female flight attendant ushered me through to the walkway to the plane. I nodded my thanks and looked around bewildered; I hadn't even realized I moved through security. I settled into my seat and looked out the small, smudged window. The flight attendant called our attention and started going through pre-flight security briefings. I listened even though I had heard these announcements dozens of times. Just before the flight attendant closed the door, she asked if anyone had decided against taking this flight. I thought about this for a moment. Was I really ready to leave my country behind, go somewhere new? I took a deep breath and decided. I closed my eyes and fell asleep as the plane took off and turned towards Ireland.

XXXXXXXXXXX

I stepped out of the small airport and looked around. It was winter now, and snow blanketed the ground in a thin layer. I took a deep breath and tried to settle my nerves. I had no idea why I had agreed to this arrangement, but it was too late now to back out. I put down my suitcase and waited for my new roommate and one of my bosses.

"'Mione! 'Mione over here!" I turned as George bounced towards me waving his hand like a lunatic. I rolled my eyes, picked up my suitcase and ran straight into his open arms. He hugged me and spun me around, laughing the whole time. When he set me down he looked me over calculatingly.

"George, I know what you're thinking. I'm fine. As I said in my owls, I've been staying with Ginny. I just packed everything this morning and flew here." I shrugged and linked arms with him as we walked to the nearest alley.

"You could have just apperated. You could have flooed as well. Why the muggle way?"

"It gave me time to decide if I was really going through with this. In the end, I was always going to. I couldn't live with your brother anymore, no offense. He just changed so much… after that last fit of rage, I couldn't take it. I'm so grateful you offered to let me stay with you and work for you." I looked up at George as we turned the corner into a dingy alley. He just shrugged and apperated us away to his flat.

"Okay, here we are. It's a bit small, but you have your own bedroom and the kitchen is always well stocked." George explained as he gave me the tour of the cozy flat, ending at my new room. He opened the door and pushed me inside.

"Let me know if you need help unpacking or anything. I have to go open the shop back up. See you later 'Mione." I waved as he closed the door behind him. I sighed and looked around the room. It was reasonably sized with a big closet and a medium-sized window that overlooked the Irish version of Diagon Alley. It was busy with children running around outside an ice cream shop, witches and wizards pushing past each other to get to some store out of view of the window. The walls were a dusty lavender, obviously George's attempt to make me feel more at home. All in all, it was quite nice.

I enlarged my boxes to their proper size and started unpacking, using magic this time. As my shelves built and filled themselves, my bed made itself and all my clothes flew to the closet and hung themselves neatly. Satisfied with my work, I changed into more comfortable clothes, a gryffindor tee shirt that had previously belonged to one of the weasley boys (although I can't remember which one) and a pair of soft denim skinny jeans. I brushed through my hair and used a hair taming spell to make my hair a little more cooperative as I stuck it in a high bun. Nodding at my reflection, I left my room and went downstairs to explore my new workplace.

_Hi there! I have made my (temporary) return to the world of fan fiction! I finally have some relative downtime in life and decided to start this story. Review pretty please with a cauldron cake on top! Of course, all of the characters, background story, and everything completely the same as the books or movies belong to the lovely J.K. Rowling. I just borrow it :) Thanks all! ~Naurgurl~ _


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Welcome to the Funny Business

"Ah, there she is! Miss Hermione Granger, I do believe we haven't seen each other for quite some time now." Lee strutted over and engulfed me in a bear hug as I laughed. "Well, welcome to the business 'Mione. It's good to have you up here. You'd be surprised how many people love it here."

"Thanks Lee, I'm glad to be here." As I looked around, I realized Lee was right; there were so many people here, and the spacious two story shop seemed almost claustrophobic.

"Here, let me show you around. Then, we'll get you set to work." Lee grabbed my hand and showed me the shop. It was organized by age group, and then type of were numerous products in every area. George had even started selling some muggle joke items. After the tour, Lee led me to the workshop where George and Lee spent hours developing new joke products.

"Hermione, there you are! I thought I heard you come down. Ready to start?" George beamed at me and I nodded eagerly. Even if George was a friend, I still wanted to impress him in my ability to pick up a job and roll with it. I was shocked when instead of telling me to man the register or help customers, I was handed an extremely heavy tome emblazoned with dancing letter that spelled out "Item Registry" before going back to wriggling around the cover.

"Um… what's this?" I looked between Lee and George as they burst out laughing.

"That, Miss Granger, is the registry containing every Weasley Wizards Wheezes product that is currently sold, at both this store, and the one Fred and Luna run in Diagon Alley. Your first job, is to read and memorize this cover to cover. If you need to, I have a pensive and vials in one of the cabinets in my room. If you want to work here, you need to know every product, and what it does so we don't have an eleven-year old using a gag for an older teenager and then getting hurt." George finished his speech and I realized for the first time how serious this business was to him. This business of making people laugh was his life, and he didn't want his jokes hurting anyone in the process. I saw him in a new light, and I was immensely glad I had taken George up on his offer. I nodded and bounced up the stairs to the flat to start reading.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"'Mione… 'Mione wake up…" George whispered as he shook me awake. I looked around bleary eyed and smiled as I focused on his face.

"Oh… Hi George, what's up?" I stretched and looked around, realizing it was dark; I heard a thump and saw the item registry laying open on the floor. I realized I must have dozed off. "I'm sorry George! I must have dozed off after I read about the skiving snackboxes!" I hurried to grab the book and set it on the coffee table, standing up and straightening my clothes in the process.

"It's fine Hermione. Wait, did you say you read the skiving snackboxes entry? That's twenty products into the registry!" Georger looked dumbfounded as I nodded and recited the first twenty products and the snackboxes entries. He smiled wryly and shook his head, muttering something under his breath. "Ah well, come on. We're going to go celebrate your first day on the job. There's this little pub called 'The Bucking Broomstick' just down the way. My treat." George was already grabbing my hand and leading me towards the stairs. I felt a blush creep up my neck but forced my mind off of it. After all, this was George, who I'd know since my first year at Hogwarts. There was nothing weird about him grabbing my hand. We met Lee down in the shop and walked to the The Bucking Broomstick. Lee and I grabbed a table as George bought two fire whiskeys and a butterbeer. George gave us our drinks and we drank in silence for a while. That is, until George left to grab a snack, also leaving his drink completely unprotected.

"Hey Hermione… You thinking what I'm thinking?" I smiled deviously and raised an eyebrow towards George's half-empty glass. Lee nodded and smiled as he passed me a truth drop; I slipped it into George's fire whiskey and watched it dissolve as he walked back to the table with a basket of chips.

"Chips all around my friends!" George said in a mock Irish accent, which we both laughed at but others gave us hard looks. As George took a large swig of his whiskey, Lee winked at me. I tried my hardest to look innocent and dove into the chips. After about thirty seconds, George smirked at us and shook his head.

"You know, neither of you are very sneaky. I should fire you both on the spot!" Lee and I gaped at him and then at each other. " Lee, I saw you nick a few truth drops. I also saw Hermione slip one in my glass as I walked back over. Good for me though, I put one of the antidote drops in my mouth as I was waiting. Unfortunately, neither of you saw me grab the hair dye powder, or saw me put it in your drinks." George was laughing hysterically at this point; Lee and I ran to the nearest mirrored surface and doubled over laughing. Lee's hair was now hot pink and mine was an electric blue. We spend the next few drinks reliving some of the twins' and Lee's greatest moments and screw-ups. Eventually, we all got tired and we stumbled up the road to the shop. Lee decided he would crash on the couch since disapperating when drunk could lead to splinching. I threw on one of my graphic tees advertising the Backstreet Boys and fell into bed, thinking about what an adventure today had been. As sleep took over, I couldn't help wondering if Ron had found my note and realized I had moved on.

_Heyy :) Yay, Chapter two is up! I promise I will try to have chapter three up soon! Brownie points and a shout out to anyone who can guess who shows up in the next chapter! Everything Harry Potter belongs to the fabulous J.K. Rowling. I just borrowed the characters/ some of the background. Thanks! ~Naurgurl~_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Books and Blood

"Ugh… 'Mione! 'Mione someone is pounding on the door!" George yelled across the hall to my room. I grumbled and stuck a pillow over my head. I looked at my alarm clock which obediently displayed the time as five in the morning. This irked me a bit, but I did not want to get up.

"You get it George, it's your flat! It's probably just some customer who wants to talk to you." As I drifted back to sleep, I vaguely heard muffled voices, a door slamming, and the pop signaling disapparation, but I ignored it in favor of grappling with the massive headache that just set in and forced myself back to sleep.

An hour later, feeling much more well rested, I padded into the bathroom and turned on the shower. As I waited for the water to heat up, I looked in the mirror and giggled. My hair was still in the process of fading from its electric blue color to the honey-chocolate brown it usually was. It was such an odd image, I had to laugh as I used a non-verbal spell to complete my hair's change back to its normal color. I stepped into the shower and sighed happily as the hot water pounded against my skin; I closed my eyes and thought about how this had all come about, how strange of an offer it had seemed at the time.

**After a week or so, Ginny took me to Weasley Wizards Wheezes in Diagon Alley to visit Fred and Luna, because "Hermione Jean, you need to loosen up and laugh!" We walked in the door and dodged a few renegade fireworks that were intent on chasing people. We walked to the front counter and were met with hugs and smiles from Luna, still as airy as ever, and Fred, who had been bitten by one of the werewolves in the Battle of Hogwarts. Somehow, these two had fallen in love during and after the battle, and now ran this shop together. As I wandered through the shelves of joke candies and potions, I smacked into none other than George Weasley. We laughed it off and he mentioned hearing that I was with Ron now. I exploded and very pointedly told I was not seeing Ron anymore. He apologized and asked what happened that made me hate that idea so much. I shrugged and told him about my month with Ron. George was livid, using some choice words to describe Ron and what he would do to Ron when he got the chance.**

**"Hey, 'Mione, where are you staying now?" George asked uncertainly and I told him with Harry and Ginny. He smiled and then bowed ridiculously low and laughed. "Well then, Miss Granger, you are formally invited to come live with me in Ireland and help me run our second store that's just opened. Lee is there now, I just dropped by to say hello and grab plans for a new product." I laughed and told him I would think about it, and tell him as soon as I could.**

"Oi, 'Mione! Stop hogging the hot water!" George yelled from the other side of the bathroom door. I rolled my eyes and cast a non verbal spell that created a rain cloud above his head. He yelped and cursed a few times, making me dissolve into giggles as I shut off the water, dried, and got dressed. I walked into the kitchen a few minutes later, grabbed two apples and tossed one to George. He caught it and immediately started eating. I sat at the table, took a bite of the apple as a thought occurred to me.

"Hey George… who was that at the door this morning?" I looked at George as his eyes darted around the room for a second before locking on me.

"Huh…? Oh, no one we know. Some bloke demanding to see his girlfriend, asking me if I was the trash he was replaced with et cetera, et cetera…" George shrugged and went back to his apple. I got the feeling he was holding something back, but I decided to drop it.

"Okay, well, I still have another fifty or so products to memorize, so I should be done by tonight. I'm going to get started on that now." I tossed the apple core in the bin, walked out to the living room, and plopped on the couch with the registry. George yelled something about going down to the shop, and a few seconds later I heard the second door open and close.

Around noon, George came back up to the flat yelling that he ordered take out for lunch and to come join him. I shut the book, careful to remember that I had just finished the hair dye powder entry. I joined him in the kitchen and started eating, listening to him rant about a young girl who was determined to get fireworks but neither George nor her mother let her, and resorted to wailing in the middle of the store until Lee came out of the back with a few fireworks he brought down the proportions of to make it safe for the girl. I was about to respond when someone started banging on the door for a second time today.

"I'll go answer it. If it's the same bloke as before, can I hex him?" I asked wryly; George laughed and nodded in the affirmative. I headed out to the front door and opened it. I was not expecting who was there. "Ron…"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hermione, pack your things. You're coming home. Now." Ron growled out the last word and I panicked. Flashbacks from the month with him started playing like a film reel in my mind and all I could do was slowly back away from the door. Ron turned slightly red and started yelling "HERMIONE I SAID NOW!" he backhanded me and I flew a few feet before slamming into the opposite wall. Things went slightly blurry as I struggled to get to my feet.

"Hermione? Hermione are you okay?" George came running out of the kitchen and froze when he saw Ron in the doorway and me leaning against the wall for support. My head felt wet but I shrugged it off, only wanting to get away from Ron. I had left my wand in my bedroom so I was almost defenseless. Almost. I tried to use non verbal magic to blast Ron backwards, but I couldn't get my spell to work. My vision blurred again as Ron advanced on me and slammed me into the wall. He slapped me when I whimpered and I saw a fuzzy George run at us and knock Ron away from me. I felt George's arms around me, picking me up as I saw Lee come around the corner, wand out and pointed at Ron.

" Go, get her cleaned up mate. I'll make sure he doesn't go anywhere." Lee looked at me worried, "Fix up that head wound. That's a lot of blood." I tried to comprehend this, but my brain was like mush. I was laid down on the couch on the living room, and George started muttering healing spells. I winced a little, but my vision and head cleared quickly; I looked to my right and George let out a breath.

" Relax 'Mione. Stay here. I'll have Lee come watch you. I'm going to floo the other shop and mum and dad. They should know about this" I nodded slightly and closed my eyes.

"Hey, hey 'Mione, don't close your eyes. Look at me okay?" I opened my eyes to Lee leaning over me with a worried expression. "I'm going to patronus a healer, to make sure you're completely okay. You took a real beating." I nodded again and watched as Lee's patronus, a small silver fox, ran off in search of healer. While we waited, Lee made me answer questions about the date, my full name, where my parents were, and others. A small pop sounded the arrival of the healer, who shooed Lee away after he explained the situation and set to work making sure I was fine.

" Now young lass," the male healer said in his thick Irish accent, "You seem fine, but you will still have a wee bit of bruising. Best to take it easy. I only have to wonder why you didn't defend yourself." I bristled at this and sat up slowly.

" I couldn't. My wand was in my bedroom and after he backhanded me, my mind was so unfocused I couldn't do any non-verbal or wandless magic." I shrugged and thanked the healer before he left. Lee came back from the kitchen and gave me a cup of tea. I was still shaken, but Lee assured me he would keep me safe. I fell asleep as Lee held me and rubbed small soothing circles on my back. After a while, I was half- awoken by quiet voices. I couldn't make out what they said so I put it off and kept sleeping. I felt myself being lifted and carried into my bedroom.

"Don't worry Hermione. I won't let anyone hurt you. Never again." George whispered in my ear and kissed my forehead. I drifted off to sleep wondering what had gone on that made George do that.

_ Hey! Chapter three woot woot! School starts back up tomorrow, so I probably won't update until next weekend, at the earliest. If I don't update, feel free to PM me until I do :). Praise and Burns all welcome. Everything in the HP universe is owned by our lovely leader, J.K. Rowling. I just borrow some of it. Thanks! ~Naurgurl~_


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